Saturday, 21 February 2015

First Trip to the Aquarium

Last week I took toddler on his first ever trip to the aquarium! We were invited to the launch of the new Jurassic Seas exhibition at Sea Life Brighton. I admit it, I love aquariums and have been to several sea life centres. I’ve been tempted many times to take toddler to one but thought, at 20 months, he might be a bit too young to appreciate it. However, when we were invited to the launch I jumped at the chance.

I took a friend and her little girl along and we had a great time! The two toddlers loved looking at the sea life, running through the exhibits, seeing some funny looking creatures and saying ‘wow’ when they saw big fish. Last weeks Sunday Photo was of my little boy looking at the tank full of turtles in amazement. The centre is well organised so the two little ones could roam (relatively) free and chase each other down the slopes. We took a ride on the glass bottom boat which was a big hit. I think toddler was more interested in the bubbles in the water rather than the big fish below but hey ho the ride was very popular with the older children!

Photo credit: Julia Claxton

Giant Nautilus
Photo credit: Julia Claxton

The new Jurassic Seas exhibition includes digital dinosaurs, ancient fossils and unique sea creatures. Max, the General Manager, gave us a wonderful tour introducing the new features. The toddlers were falling asleep by this stage but we adults were mesmerised. I was amazed by the Giant Nautilus and Horseshoe Crabs that have existed for 450 millions years and crazy to think they were on the Earth at the same time as dinosaurs! My favourite though was Charlie the snakeneck turtle. The exhibition boosts a digital motion-sensory installation that allows you to choose a dinosaur and control its movement on a big screen, the first attraction of its kind in the world, shown below.

New Jurassic Seas feature
Photo credit: Julia Claxton

We had a lovely afternoon out and the toddlers had a wonderful time. Although toddler didn't linger on any display for too long (except the turtles) it was great just to introduce him to the magical and colourful world of sea life. I'm already looking forward to our next visit :)

Where have you been this week?

Many thanks to Sea Life Brighton for inviting us to the Jurassic Seas Launch :)

Aquariums are great places to spend the day with your little one, it doesn't surprise me that your toddler had a great day exploring. It looks like the attractions at Sea Life Brighton are fab. Popping in from Magic Moments.

Sounds a lovely day out. My daughter is a huge fan of aquariums too (including Brighton) and I think they're great for kids - all that moody lighting and background tank bubbling is oddly soothing but there's always lots to look at.

That looks like a great day out! My 2 love fish and actually we took my eldest to the London Aquarium for her first birthday and might do the same again for our youngest! Definitely a big hit for us, we would love to explore new sea life centres too #MyFavouriteTrip

Hello! I'm Polly (Brighton Mama on Twitter). I write about family travel, lifestyle and adventures with my little four year old son, 'Pip' ❤ We live in the mostly sunny seaside town of Brighton, UK. Read more on my About Page.